U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,305, by Soo S. Cho, describes a foam headgear for protecting against blows to the head during martial arts. The headgear is of foam structure covering the back of the head, the forehead, and the ears/sides of the head. It is designed to conform to the shape of the head; however the only adjustable mean is a chin strap joining the two ear portions. While this headgear does not impair vision of the wearer it does lack customized fit and adequate protection, particularly at the front of the chin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,921, by Robert M. Leutholt et al., describes a protective headgear for use in combat sports involving impacts to the head. The headgear is primarily concerned with eye protection and thus provides relatively little protection for other parts of the head. Furthermore, while stating that it does not “unduly limit vision” because the eyes are individually surrounded by padding forming elliptical holes for each eye, it is clear that vision is significantly impacted. The headgear is secured by conventional cooperating straps that connect at the back of the head. There is also a crown strap that loops around the other straps and fastens to itself. These straps interact in such a way to encourage separation of the cooperating straps and do not act to maintain the field of view.
Wrestling headgear is primarily concerned with protecting the ears of the wearer and not typically designed to withstand impacts or strikes as these are not normally part of the sport. U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,316, by M. S. Pukish, Jr., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,191, by Boddy E. Douglas, show headgear representative of this type that consist of ear protection pads joined by several straps and do not impede vision. However, although this headgear may be well-suited for custom fitting, it offers inadequate protection for combat sports that involve striking. Furthermore, a wrestling headgear often contains one or more hard shells as components of the ear cups, which are not suitable for most combat sports involving striking.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,271, by Jhoon Rhee, describes a headgear having openings conforming to the eyes, nose, mouth, chin and ears in one embodiment, or one large opening conforming to the face (including the eyes, nose, mouth, and chin) in another embodiment. In all embodiments, the headgear by Rhee is not customizable for fit and lacks adequate chin protection for combat sports involving strikes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,458,025, by De Witt A., describes a headgear for a boxer that utilizes a semi-rigid plate at the front of the headgear through which slots are cut out to allow unrestricted vision and breathing. Specifically, a T-shaped opening structure is described. In most contemporary uses, the rigid plate is not appropriate for competition and not well-suited for training.
There is need for headgear that is customizable in fit, which offers suitable protection for the head of the wearer while maintaining a field of view so as not to obstruct the vision of the wearer.